Burgess clears the air over eye-gouge incident against the Kiwis

He was vilified over an alleged eye gouge on Kiwis skipper Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, and now George Burgess has opened up about the incident that landed him a suspension until round four.

Laine Clark

AAPDecember 7, 20185:37pm

George Burgess has opened up about the eye-gouging incident in England. (AAP Image/Brendan Esposito)Source:AAP

South Sydney’s George Burgess says he is no eye gouger, describing an incident that earned him a four-match ban as a “misunderstanding”.

Burgess admits he is still upset over missing the first three rounds of the next NRL season after being found guilty of gouging New Zealand’s Dallin Watene-Zelezniak last month in England’s second Test win.

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The incident late in the 20-14 victory was not penalised by referee Gerard Sutton, and Watene-Zelezniak appeared to brush off the clash in post-match interviews.

But Burgess copped the four-match ban — which included the third-Test loss against the Kiwis — and a $900 fine after New Zealand later cited the England forward.

“That’s what I got charged with but anyone who knows me knows I am not an eye gouger,” Burgess said.

“I am disappointed to be tagged an eye gouger.

“It’s not something I would do. It was a misunderstanding but I have to move on and apologise to everyone involved.